Looking after your gut and keeping your microbes well fed doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. It’s not about overhauling what you currently eat either, it's about making small changes that can make a big difference.
Specialist Gastroenterology Dietitian Dr Sammie Gill shares 12 simple ways to eat with your microbes in mind…
- Swap white bread for wholemeal or rye bread. If it’s too much of a leap, try 50:50. When cooking, swap white rice/pasta for brown rice/pasta or mix 50:50.
- Add oats, nut butters, and seeds (e.g. flaxseeds, chia seeds) to homemade smoothies.
- Swap out 50% of the mince used in spaghetti bolognaise, lasagne, chilli con carne, or shepherd’s pie and replace with pulses (e.g. chickpeas, lentils). When making homemade meatballs, swap out 50% of the mince and replace with 50% oats.
- Choose wholewheat or oat flour when baking bread, cakes, biscuits, or mix 50:50 with white flour.
- If you’re having pizza, load up with vegetables and include a side salad.
- Have gut-friendly snacks to hand such as pieces of fruit to dip in nut butter, slices of veg to dip in humous, popcorn, wholegrain crackers, homemade oat bars. Why not make your own trail mix? Mix oats, bran flakes, puffed rice, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, dried beans, herbs and spices…
- Split your breakfast cereals. Swap out 50% of your regular cornflakes or puffed rice for bran flakes or muesli.
- Mix chia seeds in with jam before spreading on toast.
- Sprinkle dried fruit and nuts on cereals, salads, yogurts…
- Keep the skins on fruit and vegetables when you can, including potatoes, kiwis, cucumber, apples, carrots, aubergine...
- It doesn’t need to be fresh - frozen, dried, and tinned (in natural juices/water) fruit and vegetables count.
- Add pulses (lentils, chickpeas, butter beans) and seeds (chia seeds, flaxseeds) to soups and stews.
Hungry for more? Dig into more gut-friendly recipes
